{"id":758255,"date":"2026-06-24T15:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/758255\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:00:11","slug":"inside-georgia-footballs-surprising-new-secret-weapon-a-golf-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/758255\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Georgia football’s surprising new secret weapon: a golf course"},"content":{"rendered":"

Life\u2019s a beach. Or a highway. Or a journey. Or a mirror. Or a \u201cmoderately good play with a pretty bad third act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or maybe, if you\u2019re a Georgia Bulldog, it\u2019s something much simpler. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn sports competition, winning is everything,\u201d says Kirby Smart<\/a>, the head football coach at the University of Georgia. \u201cIn my life, it\u2019s behind God, family, and football, of course. But winning in general competition? It\u2019s what I\u2019m all about, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smart can\u2019t really recall when he first realized he loved beating people. Maybe it was when he was a little boy, age 5, aiding his dad\u2019s youth baseball coaching efforts in tiny Rabun Gap, Ga., by setting up shop near the dugout and swinging wildly at bottle caps with a broomstick. Or maybe it was a bit later in childhood, when Smart\u2019s cantankerousness in both defeat and victory led to the creation of a most unusual Smart Family Rule: no board games. Or maybe it was in high school, when his yearbook passage read like a job listing for an apex predator.<\/p>\n

\u201cLikes: Winning; Remembered For: Being intense in competition.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kirby Smart is wired differently \u2014 a fact supported by every millimeter of his adult life in Athens, Ga., where competition is jammed into every couch cushion and under every mattress like he\u2019s worried about a run on the banks. It\u2019s in the hallways of the gleaming Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall<\/a> (pronounced butt smear without a whiff of irony), where training boards glow day and night to remind players just how much slower and weaker they are than their NFL-superstar predecessors. It\u2019s in the sparkling new weight room, where sensors sit on every squat rack and bench to track the velocity, acceleration and completion of every rep, transmitting data to an enormous LED screen that ranks player performance by weight class. And it\u2019s certainly there on the practice field, the so-called House of Payne, where football is an act of war \u2014 an exercise in violence and discipline and strategy and technique \u2014 and Coach Smart is the general.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what my career was built on,\u201d Smart says, chuckling. \u201cI love competing, and I love \u2026 love \u2026 winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there are drawbacks to being the general, especially if you\u2019re Kirby Smart. Chief among them is that you don\u2019t get to do the fighting yourself.<\/p>\n

Like generations of head ball coaches before him \u2014 including his mentor, the legendary Nick Saban \u2014 this is what brought Smart to a sport in which strategy and discipline and technique and violence can be acted out well off the gridiron and into retirement: golf.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yeah, he\u2019s a competitor,\u201d says Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL MVP<\/a> and Super Bowl champion quarterback, with a laugh. Stafford matriculated through Georgia football before Smart was at the helm, part of a program-defining stretch in the mid-2000s that eventually made Stafford the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. Stafford has become good friends with Smart in the years since Stafford left campus, particularly as Smart stewarded Georgia\u2019s rise to becoming arguably the preeminent college football program in the country, winning back-to-back national championships and four SEC titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been on some duck hunts together, on the golf course together, and Kirby doesn\u2019t like to lose \u2014\u00a0at anything,\u201d Stafford says. \u201cBut that\u2019s okay, because I don\u2019t like to lose, either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Smart is nobody\u2019s definition of a \u201cgood\u201d golfer. He hacks it around unpretentiously, and religiously maintains a 12 handicap. But he is ruthless, and obsessed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe imperfection \u2014 that\u2019s what I love about golf,\u201d he says. \u201cI really believe that golf is a failure sport. It\u2019s so fun to play because you never play a perfect round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athens exists in a prolonged state of obsession over Smart\u2019s football prowess, particularly on Saturdays in the fall, when Smart\u2019s Dawgs cause the city\u2019s population to double. But it\u2019s on a spring Tuesday that Smart\u2019s grander plan comes into view on a dirt lot 10 minutes from campus. It is here, between the peach fuzz of a spanking-new golf course and the bones of a colossal clubhouse, that a new kind of competition steps to the fore in the form of a place called The Rose.<\/p>\n

And it is here, in the era of player empowerment and NIL, that Kirby Smart welcomes a surprising new tool into his recruiting arsenal: his 7-iron.<\/p>\n

\"georgia
\n Inside the Georgia Football House of Payne.<\/p>\n

GOLF | James Colgan<\/p>\n

A FOOTBALL FIELD AWAY from Kirby Smart\u2019s office, in the Georgia Athletics Hall of Fame at the lobby level of Butts-Mehre, the Cassini brothers summarize the first part of their golf legacy with an old joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see that name right there?\u201d Dimitri says with a grin. \u201cNick Cassini<\/a> \u2026 and look at that next name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick picks up the punchline.<\/p>\n

\u201cHerschel Walker,\u201d Nick says. \u201cI was so good that I beat Herschel freakin\u2019 Walker into the Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two brothers start laughing before Nick explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t get into the Hall of Fame until you have your diploma, and Herschel didn\u2019t finish his degree until after his NFL career,\u201d he says. \u201cI got in before him, but it was on a technicality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Nick might be underselling himself. Herschel Walker or not, Nick is one of the best players in the history of Georgia golf. His resume sports the fourth-best scoring average of any player in program history, a 1999 NCAA title and a place on the U.S. Walker Cup team.<\/p>\n

A long time ago, Nick and Dimitri dreamt of a life as brothers in arms in golf. At the time, though, they pictured it\u2019d look like PGA Tour superstardom, with Nick following the many high-level Georgia golfers (Bubba Watson, Brian Harman, Chris Kirk, et al.) who have blazed a path on the big tours and millions in earnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would caddie for him during my summers in high school, his summers in college,\u201d says Dimitri, who is five years younger than Nick. \u201cWe spent two and a half months straight on the road, driving around the country. I mean, we didn\u2019t have a choice, we just became best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

The brothers never imagined the road to the pros would eventually bring them here, to Butts-Mehre, where they\u2019d be explaining the journey to a totally hair-brained idea that\u2019s now totally real: a private golf club in Athens, Ga., existing as an (unaffiliated) extension of the university with a national membership of similarly obsessed golf diehards (including approximately 30 percent who have no attachment to the university). The reason all those things can cohabitate together is a golf course the Cassinis have spent the last 18 months fussing over.<\/p>\n

The Cassinis never imagined that they\u2019d become perhaps two of the most qualified people on earth to bring such a project to life. Yet here they are, their credentials as world-renowned real-estate developers, world travelers and deeply connected plus-handicappers serving them well for a task as meticulous as developing a golf club, where no detail is too small to care about.<\/p>\n

In reverse, though, the dots connect rather satisfyingly. The Cassinis arrived in Athens for the first time at a turning point in their lives. Their father had passed just as his sons were reaching college age, leaving them to find their paths as adults. Athens quickly adopted the brothers, giving them a home base and a sense of community. At first the boys thought they\u2019d honor the Bulldogs through Nick\u2019s life on tour, but soon it became clear their real calling was in development \u2014 first as employees of a real-estate company and then as the founders of their own venture.<\/p>\n

\"An
\n The Cassini brothers, Nick (left) and Dimitri, learned the game from their father.<\/p>\n

Courtesy, Cassini Family<\/p>\n

Golf remained a passion all along, as did their adopted hometown. Eventually, after their travels included trips to many of the best golf courses in the world, the two brothers got to talking about what it might take to build a club of their own. They started looking for property in Athens and, after a prolonged search, found a parcel of farmland just across the county line that looked promising. They went for a visit and wound up on what eventually became the 12th hole \u2014 a long, canting par-5 that even then looked etched into the earth. Less than an hour later, they started on the paperwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew right away we\u2019d found it,\u201d Nick says now with a grin. \u201cIt was just perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next came the big decision: a course designer. After several interviews, the brothers settled on Tripp Davis, who \u2014 like them \u2014 was ready to pour his heart and soul into the project, even getting an apartment in Athens so he could personally oversee every detail of the design. The course came together quickly, routed between rolling hills and a small ocean of native grass as if it had existed on the property forever. The other components of the club came together at a more reasonable pace under the exacting eyes of Dimitri and Nick, who scoured the golf world for an all-star team of maintenance and hospitality experts. <\/p>\n

The goal, as they tell it, is total refinement, and the point is to create a great American golf club, not just a place celebrated by Georgia alumni. The evidence of that pursuit is everywhere \u2014 from a personalized nicotine-pouch dispenser to a special brand of homemade beef jerky. When their GM didn\u2019t fully understand their goal to serve European-inspired small plates on account of having never visited the continent, the Cassinis booked three plane tickets and spent a week with their colleague eating their way through Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery hire we wanted to look them in the eye and see that this was the most important thing in their life,\u201d Dimitri said. \u201cWe wanted them to know that this is going to make you what you want to be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those ideals might sound high-minded, but to the Cassinis, they\u2019re the bare minimum required. Not because it suits their egos or bolsters their bank accounts (the club is member-owned), but because The Rose represents their best shot at giving back to the city that has given them so much. And in that effort? Half-assing won\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur range? You\u2019ll never have sunlight hit you straight in your eyes, morning or evening,\u201d Dimitri says. \u201cIt\u2019s the little things that people will never even know that I\u2019m obsessed with.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not hard to see how this level of obsession pairs nicely with work up the street at Butts-Mehre, where Georgia Football prepares to send another class of stars in pursuit of a national title. The landscape is changing faster than ever in college football, where NIL has upended the traditional world order. Suddenly, universities with well-funded benefactors and enthusiastic alumni bases have been gifted a legitimate competitive advantage. Any environment that brings together those groups and encourages visits to campus? That can\u2019t be bad for football.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially once I\u2019m done playing, it\u2019ll be much easier to get back there in the fall and go to games,\u201d says Stafford, the NFL star. \u201cTo have a fantastic place to stay and go play golf and do all that? It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the Cassinis are in it for the golf. They\u2019ve enjoyed building The Rose so much that they\u2019ve started their own course-development consulting firm, Cassini and Co., to help other golf diehards build their own dream courses. But they wouldn\u2019t be upset with a national title, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, when we built this place, Saturday afternoons in the fall were one of the first things we thought about,\u201d Dimitri says. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing better than Athens during a home game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he stopped himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, actually, hopefully there\u2019s one thing better,\u201d Cassini says with a grin. \u201cA tee time before it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
\n The Rose is only just now growing in, but it\u2019s already turning heads.<\/p>\n

GOLF | James Colgan<\/p>\n

GEORGIA FOOTBALL HAS never strayed far from golf.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHouse of Payne\u201d where Smart spends his practice days? The field owes its name to Billy Payne, \u201969 and \u201973, an ex-fullback for the Bulldogs who helped shepherd the Olympics to Atlanta in 1992 and, for his efforts, earned a chairmanship at Augusta National. When Georgia put the naming rights to the indoor practice facility up for sale, Payne pledged $25 million to the effort, and named the field for his father, Ronnie, who also played for the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

Payne became much better known for his role as a sports iconoclast than his days as a Bulldog. But the passion he exudes for golf is no less fervent among those who have committed their lives to football first. When Stafford isn\u2019t winning NFL MVPs, he is golf-obsessed, and when Smart isn\u2019t winning national championships, he is golf-addicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy the challenge of it\u2019s you against you,\u201d Smart says, repeating the words that have brought the competitively obsessed to golf since the beginning of time. \u201cYou like to say you\u2019re competing against somebody, but you\u2019re really just playing yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to understand why Smart might enjoy the prospect of an internal challenge: These days, his life as head ball coach rarely involves such introspection. There are recruits to win and budgets to set and donors to woo and players to coach. <\/p>\n

As it turns out, that might prove to be the most useful component of his new home club. The Rose won\u2019t just provide Smart with an escape from his duties as a football coach, but it also will provide him with a new venue to conduct those same duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s one of those synergy deals, like, we\u2019re constantly looking for facilities that boost the economic impact of our athletic programs,\u201d Smart says. \u201cFootball is included in that, golf is included. It\u2019s great when you get a place that people can go out and have fun, enjoy, relax and socialize. Sometimes that ties in more energy, more enthusiasm towards the program, which might also equal more donations and more dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Smart\u2019s telling, it\u2019s all part of golf\u2019s old-school playbook of connective tissue \u2014\u00a0where four hours and a great walk can bridge divides and solidify friendships and close deals.<\/p>\n

In other words, if it sounds ridiculous to think an unaffiliated private golf club could benefit a public university\u2019s football program, you clearly haven\u2019t been paying much attention to college football \u2026 or private golf clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest impact I see it having on football is the relationships that I get to form, our coaches get to form, with people that are that are coming back and playing golf,\u201d Smart said. \u201cA lot of business deals get done on the golf course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
\n The Rose at sunset.<\/p>\n

GOLF | James Colgan<\/p>\n

At The Rose, those deals will have the benefit of occurring in a unique space: a golf course unlike anything else in Georgia, in a city unlike anywhere else in Georgia, founded a group of golf obsessives with a vision unlike anyone else in Georgia. It\u2019s an ambitious idea, particularly for the two brothers charged with bringing it to life, but there is little doubting its merits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember [Billy Payne] saying that his favorite part about being Augusta National chairman was changing people\u2019s lives,\u201d Dimitri Cassini says. \u201cHe told us, \u2018Your life as you knew it is over, and it\u2019s a completely new chapter of your life, and your best friends in five years from now will not be the best friends you have today. They will be a lot of the people from this club.\u2019 We\u2019ve already seen that to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Cassinis, the goal was always bigger than expanding their social circle. It was about giving back to the place that had given them so much, and about building a legacy in a place both brothers could call home. The biggest surprise of the project has been how many fellow golfers \u2014 both with UGA ties and without \u2014 seem to share their passion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a commitment to the area,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a commitment on a national level from a lot of people affiliated with Georgia. Georgia football is such a national power that it\u2019s something people want to go see, and now they have an unbelievable golf course right nearby to go check out as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stafford made a return trip to The Rose after the Rams broke for training camp in mid-June. He welcomed an old coach, Mike Bobo \u2014 now the Bulldogs\u2019 offensive coordinator \u2014 alongside a few buddies for a few days of golf and nostalgia.<\/p>\n

That was precisely the kind of excursion the Cassinis envisioned in mid-April, when they stopped by the course one evening for a quick site tour. The sun was setting behind the rolling hills, illuminating the land with golden streaks. Soon golfers would fill these fairways and greens, but for the moment it was just Dimitri and Nick surveying the fruits of their labor with childlike grins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just freaking awesome,\u201d Nick said, the weight of his and Dimitri\u2019s efforts hitting him as he looked out at the course. \u201cThis is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the breeze rustled through the trees, Nick put his arm around his brother and looked out at their new home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can reach the author at james.colgan@golf.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Life\u2019s a beach. Or a highway. Or a journey. Or a mirror. Or a \u201cmoderately good play with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-758255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}